Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than as a product, where shared resources, software, and information are provided to user devices (e.g., computers, smart phones, etc.) over a network, such as the Internet. Cloud computing environments provide computation, software, data access, and/or storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of a physical location and configuration of a system that delivers the services.
A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunication systems and storage systems. A data center generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression, etc.), and/or security devices. In one example, a data center may share information with a cloud computing environment that may be utilized by user devices.
When accessing a private Internet protocol (IP) cloud computing environment via a data center, customers (e.g., via user devices) may utilize a large number of IP version 4 (IPv4) private addresses, which may lead to overlap (or reuse) of the same addresses across different private IP customers. In order to ensure security in such arrangements, a physical connection is provided from the data center to a virtual route forwarding (VRF) function for each customer. The VRF functions may enable the customers to securely communicate with private IP cloud services. However, this arrangement is expensive and does not provide flexibility since physical connections are required for all customers. The arrangement also prevents customers, with existing private IP services, from using the customer's IP addressing when the customer's IP addressing overlaps with the IP addressing used in the data center.